More to Life Than Creatures
by Aylin Penrose
Summary: While traveling through Japan searching for the Hoo-Hoo bird, Rolf Scamander comes across a young woman who will become an integral part of his life.


**Disclaimer: The wonderful world of Harry Potter belongs, not to me, but to the amazing JK Rowling.**

 **Written for Monthly Challenge #1 for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

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His grandfather had warned him that it would be difficult, had told him how rare it was to find them out in the wild. But had he listened? Absolutely not. So here he was, going on his 4th month out in the wilds of Japan, searching for the elusive Hoo-Hoo bird.

Rolf Scamander climbed over yet another humongous fallen tree and, looking up at the large hill that was just waiting for him to climb it, decided that now was a good time to rest and eat lunch. He pulled off his backpack and dug inside until he found one of the many prepackaged meals he had bought in preparation for his long journey.

He remembered the day he had told Grandpa Newt that he wanted to find and observe the Hoo-Hoo in its natural habitat before seeing if it would be possible to tame or at least make friends with one. There were a few that were kept as pets throughout Japan, being passed from generation to generation, but it had been some time since one had been seen in the wild.

Hoo-Hoos were a type of firebird similar to a Phoenix in that they are able to be reborn through fire and ash but even that is not completely the same. Every 100 years they would experience their Burning Day and be reborn from the ashes but they could only do this up to 7 times before they would pass on for good and a Burning Day could occur before the 100 years was up if the Hoo-Hoo died prematurely, which would still count towards the 7.

They were slightly smaller than Phoenixes as well, and their bodies were made up of various colors, such as red, yellow, green, white, and black instead of the standard red and gold of the Phoenix. Their tail feathers, which were actually quite similar to that of a peacock, only smaller, could also be used as a wand core and wands made of cherry blossom wood with a Hoo-Hoo tail feather core were highly sought after in Japan.

Rolf finished off his sandwich and crisps, packed everything away again and cast a drying charm on himself to dry the sweat before following it with a cooling charm. He had run out of the potion that would keep him from getting too hot a month ago and hadn't felt like calling off his search yet to go and resupply.

10 minutes later, Rolf had made it to the crest of the hill and a large open field lay before him. As he gazed around, he caught sight of something that made him immediately drop to the forest floor and freeze, trying not to make any more sound or move an inch.

When it was apparent that the beast hadn't seen him or just didn't feel like charging him, Rolf raised himself up slightly so he could see above the bush he was currently ensconced behind and focused on the Re'em that was currently grazing in the field. Resembling giant oxen, Re'em had a golden hide, humongous horns, and were known to be very temperamental. They could be quite docile when they wanted to be but wouldn't hesitate to charge you the moment they saw you if they were in the mood. Their blood was highly sought after since it bestowed immense strength on anyone who drank it but, given that it was so difficult to acquire, it was rarely available.

Rolf couldn't believe his luck, he had seen a small herd of Mooncalves, a large troop of Clabberts, a team of Hippogriffs, and had even been nibbled on by a school of Plimpies while bathing in a large lake but he never imagined he would come across a Re'em. He pulled his camera from his pocket and began taking pictures to document this rare sighting.

"Wonderful isn't he?" A dreamy voice asked from off to his right, startling him.

He looked over and saw a woman with long dirty blonde hair, which currently had leaves and twigs sticking out of it, and silver colored eyes. She wore a long dark green skirt, a long sleeved cream colored shirt, both of which had small rips and tears throughout, and dark brown boots laying on the ground about 10 feet away. She had her chin resting on her hands, her wand resting behind her left ear, and was gazing serenely through the bushes at the Re'em.

When Rolf didn't respond for a few minutes, the woman turned to him and gave him a smile. "Is this you're first time seeing Butters?"

Rolf was beyond confused. "Butters?" He asked.

"Mhmm, I named him Butters, or Mr. Butters if I feel like being formal about it. I don't know his real name of course but Butters seemed appropriate." She said and shifted a bit.

When she moved, Rolf could see a journal of sorts laying open on the ground before her and what looked like sketches of the Re… of Butters.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Do you know Butters well?"

Her face lit up slightly at his question. "Oh yes, I have been watching him for the past week or so. He didn't really like it at first but I think he has gotten over my being here. I learned that he rather likes popcorn, enjoys swimming in the river, and rolling around in the grass."

"You got up close to him?" Rolf asked excitedly.

She cocked her head to the side. "Of course. How else would I have met him and introduced myself?"

"Er… right. My name is Rolf by the way, Rolf Scamander." He said and crawled closer to her so he could shake her hand.

"Hello Rolf, my name is Luna Lovegood. I met you're grandfather once, he was very nice." She replied and turned her gaze back to the field. "Do you think Butters would be any good at playing hide and seek?"

The question threw him for a moment but he recovered quickly. "Umm, I don't think so. It would probably be difficult for him to hide properly and he would most likely lose interest too quickly if trying to find you."

Luna let out a disappointed sigh. "You're right, we were playing tag for a bit yesterday but I don't think he liked it very much. He kept snorting and trying to impale me with his horns whenever I would tag him."

Rolf was silent for a while at hearing this. It sounded like Luna had been the only one playing tag yesterday but she didn't seem to realize that and was extremely lucky she hadn't been injured. "That's too bad really, maybe it's just not a game he likes." He said before deciding to change the strange subject. "Did you come out here looking for the Re'em or were you looking for something else?"

"Oh no, I was looking for Wiggly Dimdums." She said simply.

After racking his brain, trying to remember any creatures with a name like that, Rolf finally gave up and asked. "What are Wiggly Dimdums? I don't think I've heard of them before."

Luna turned to her journal and started flipping pages before finding the one she was looking for and handing it to him. "They resemble snakes and are about the size of a worm with wings. They like to crawl into peoples noses while they sleep and make them sneeze whenever they tell lies."

Rolf looked over her sketches of the unorthodox little creature and, though he had his doubts on whether or not it was real, didn't discount it right away. His grandfather had come across many creatures in his lifetime that people hadn't believed existed. Just because it hadn't been found yet, didn't mean that it never would be.

"Hmm, I haven't come across anything like this before I'm afraid." He stated.

"That's all right, I just started my search about 2 months ago so I'm sure I will find something eventually." She said and began watching Butters again.

They fell into a comfortable silence for the next 15 minutes or so, as they lay there and watched Butters flop onto his side and start rolling around, which didn't exactly seem possible given his size and shape but he managed, before Luna turned back to him. "What are you searching for?"

"I'm looking for the Hoo-Hoo. Been at it for about 4 months now and haven't been able to find any clues as to where one might be nested." He said dejectedly.

He had been looking down at her sketches of the Wiggly Dimdums without really seeing them but looked up again when she put her hand on his arm. She had a magnificent smile spread across her face and a look of excitement in her eyes.

"I think I may have passed a Hoo-Hoo nest a few weeks ago. I didn't really think much of it at the time because I was so focused on my own search but I did document the location on my map."

Rolf grabbed her hand in both of his. "Can you take me there or at least show me where I need to go?" He asked hurriedly.

Luna gave a small laugh that sounded like tinkling bells to his ears. "Of course I'll take you there. Coming across Butters has reminded me that, while my search is important, I shouldn't pass up other possible discoveries."

"Thank you so much Luna. You are absolutely brilliant." Rolf exclaimed and gave her an awkward half hug, the best that their current positions would allow.

"Come on then. Let's go say goodbye to Butters and then we can be on our way." She said and laughed again as he shot up off the ground and extended a hand to help her.

Despite his excitement however, Rolf let Luna lead the way into the field and towards Butters since she had already seemed to have developed some type of rapport with the large creature. As they got nearer, Butters stopped rolling around and stood up to watch them warily until they were only a foot from him.

"Hello Butters, I just wanted to introduce you to my new friend Rolf Scamander and to say goodbye. It was a lot of fun playing with you and I hope I get to see you again sometime." Luna said and stepped forward slowly before wrapping her arms around his large neck and stroking his sides.

Rolf reached out a tentative hand, placed it on the beast's head and began petting him. "Nice to meet you Butters."

Butters simply snorted at him and then closed his eyes, enjoying being petted.

Once they were done saying goodbye, Rolf taking a picture of Luna and Butters together, Luna briefly showed him where she had marked the possible Hoo-Hoo sighting on her map and then began to lead them west, through the forest.

It took another week in a half of traveling before they made it but Rolf learned quite a bit about his new temporary companion during that time. She was definitely quirky and some of the creatures she told him about seemed impossible but she was also very intelligent, perceptive, and kind beyond all reason. By the time they reached their destination, Rolf could safely say that he was smitten with the young woman and dreaded the moment they would go their separate ways.

"Here we are." Luna said and stopped. "I believe I saw the Hoo-Hoo nest over there."

Rolf looked to where she was pointing and zeroed in on the cocoon like nest that was suspended from the high branch of a nearby tree. There were only two different magical creatures that made those types of nests and this one was too small for an Ocammy, since they usually laid 6-8 eggs, whereas the Hoo-Hoo only laid one egg per every rebirth, if it mated at all.

He drew his wand and began casting spells on the nest to check and see if it was recently occupied or dormant and whether a magical creature was actually nesting there, without disturbing it. He had to contain a whoop of glee when the nest glowed green to signify that it was being used then purple, telling him it was the home of a magical creature, and settled on grabbing Luna into a big hug instead.

Since the Hoo-Hoo was not currently in the nest, they both pitched their tents and settled down about 20 feet from the nest, making sure not to lose sight of it. Luna pulled out her journal and began sketching the nest while Rolf pulled out his own journal and started drawing a map of the location as well as descriptions of the different foliage and such that they had passed by in the last few miles and that now surrounded the area they were in.

The more he wrote, the more excited he became as he realized that this was a prime area to nest in for the bird he had been searching for. Hoo-Hoos, like Phoenixes, were herbivores but they enjoyed eating all kinds of different fruits when available and this was confirmed when he documented several berry bushes and pear, peach, and cherry trees darting the area when they had come in.

Rolf and Luna were talking softly 4 hours later, the sun beginning to set, when they heard bird song coming from behind them. It grew louder and louder until the Hoo-Hoo came into view, it's vibrant plumage cutting a stunning sight through the perpetual green and brown that surrounded them, and alighted softly on the lip of the opening to its nest.

Neither human moved an inch as they watched the beautiful firebird settle itself down to sleep. When they were finally assured that they wouldn't disturb it, Rolf and Luna settled down for the night, Rolf giving Luna a kiss on the cheek in thanks and a large grin before going into his tent.

They would now have to play the waiting game as they attempted to gain the Hoo-Hoo's trust. It would start with allowing the bird to get used to their presence before they would begin laying out various fruits within easy reach of it, then attempting to feed it directly and hopefully progress steadily from there to petting and getting to study it up close.

As he lay in bed that night, Rolf thanked Fate for placing Luna in his path. While they had been waiting, she had asked him if he would like to accompany her on her search once they were done with the Hoo-Hoo and he quickly accepted the invitation, not yet ready to leave this intriguing woman's sight. He closed his eyes and dreamed not of that which had originally brought him here but of the treasure he had found along the way.


End file.
